1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to flail-type material spreaders and is directed particularly to improved flails for such material spreader to improve the spreading operation thereof.
The flail type material spreaders usually have a semi-cylindrical tank with a longitudinally extending shaft carrying flexible flails for discharging material in the tank. A wide range of material may be handled by the spreader. These materials may be dry manure, sticky manure, sloppy manure, liquid manure, wet manure, frozen manure, and slurry-type manure. Also different types of bedding may be mixed with the foregoing types of manure. The flail-type material spreader satisfactorily handles to some degree all of these various types of material and is therefore very versatile and adaptable to a wide range of conditions on farms.
The tank is mounted on a wheeled frame and usually extends in the direction of travel. The material is discharged by the flails throwing the material through an opening on the side of the spreader. The rotor shaft is connected to the power take off of the tractor through a drive (not shown) on the spreader.
The shaft is driven over a range of speeds depending upon the dishcarging action. The flexible flails are usually of the chain type and may be of several different arrangements on the rotor shaft. The simplest is a single row of flails connected along one side of the shaft. In another form two rows of flails are connected on opposite sides of the shaft with the flails of the two rows either aligned or offset. Three rows of flails may be connected to the shaft at 120.degree. intervals. In another form a single arrangement of flails may be spirally connected along the shaft or connected along the outer edge of an auger on the shaft. In some spreaders four rows of flails are connected to the shaft at 90.degree. to one another.
Most flail type spreaders have front and rear starter flails. These starter flails are impactors pivotally mounted on the outer ends of rotor arms rigidly secured to the shaft.
The dry, wet or sticky manure is usually loaded into the spreader so that it is piled above the rotor shaft. Since the spreader is not operating the flexible chain flails droop downwardly into the tank and the manure piles around the chains and holds them in this position. On rotation of the shaft the chains wrap around the rotor shaft and form an axial passage through the material without discharging the material from the spreader. the front and rear starter flails due to their construction start the discharge of the material.
As the ends of the tank are cleared the chain flails adjacent to the starter flails start to unravel from the shaft and discharge the material from the tank. The material is thus progressively removed from the ends of the tank to the middle.
In liquids, if the tank holds liquids above the rotor level, the resistance of the fluid prevents the chains from throwing any major amount of fluid out of the tank, greatly prolonging the unloading process until the level is lowered and reaches the shaft. The majority of the initial liquid ejected in such a case is thrown by the same starter flails used for the initial ejectment of solids. Once the liquid level reaches no longer above the shaft, the flails become operative and assume an extended position to discharge the liquid or slurry manure along the entire length of the spreader.
To the present time, although flail-type material spreaders have been used for a number of years, pivotable starter flails have not advanced too far and they appear not to be fully satisfying. Known starter flails have a flat segment longitudinally welded perpendicular to the flail to eject material. Placement of the longitudinal flat segment, whether in the middle or at the leading face of the flail, serves to throw material out of the opening of the tank by the brute force of impact of the welded projection.
Furtheron, known flail heads other than the starter flails are formed by simple T-shaped metal flail tips connected on the ends of the chains to assist in the breaking up of solid material and to beat manure out of the tank. In fluid or semi-fluid materials however these flail heads are not very efficient.